Psychosis, etc. [2011/09/24]

(In my next post, I am going to rant a little about certain parts of academia. I would put it here, but A] it would be hard to work it in thematically, and B] I'm pretty sure this post is long enough as it is, and I don't want to be more long-winded than I already am.)

I just realised that in my last post, I forgot to mention that last Friday I WENT TO THE AMANDA PALMER NINJA CONCERT AND IT WAS AWESOME. I heard about it approximately two hours beforehand, and so a couple of friends and I lined up and filed politely into Eclectic for what was probably the most laid-back concert I have ever experienced. Don't get me wrong, Amanda Palmer is an incredibly enthusiastic performer and we were all enthusiastic right back, but there was no sweat, no shoving, and no foot-abusing. I mean, we were all sitting on the floor, for crying out loud. I repeat: AWESOME. It was exactly what I was in the mood for.

There's been a lot of controversy over some things Amanda Palmer has done, including ableism and hipster racism. I don't support those things, and I feel conflicted some times about liking her as an artist vs. not liking some of her actions, but even that conflict doesn't change the fact that it was a really good show.

MOVING ON. Last Saturday I went to the latter end of the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at Asian/Asian-American House, where I got both delicious free food and a truly appalling number of mosquito bites. Totally worth it, though.

Other than that, it was a fairly quiet week. I did some homework, picked up my first Bag-O'-Veggies from the Fruit and Veggie Co-Op (so exciting!), baked some scones...

Oh, yeah, and had a minor mental breakdown about my hair, which is probably better represented with another Hyperbole and a Half homage — that is, in badly-drawn-in-photoshop comic form. CHECK IT OUT.

Let me state, first of all, that I have no idea why this happened. Yes, I had been thinking since my last haircut (in August — if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll remember that this was after a sharktopus chomped off most of my hair) that my bangs were too long, but I hadn't thought it was bothering me too badly. I just tucked them behind my ear or wore a hairband or something. I wasn't even particularly stressed or anything (no more so than usual, at least), so I really have no idea why this happened.

There I was, though, quietly sitting and doing my homework on the longest day of my week (Tuesday, when I have three classes, one of them for three hours; for some reason this Tuesday also felt like it lasted for approximately five days) when all of a sudden, I couldn't stop thinking about my hair.

I tried to go back to my homework, but my attention was continually diverted by the thought of my bangs and the feeling of my bandanna-hairband pushing them back.

"MY BANGS ARE TOO LONG. THEY ARE SO LONG. THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY LONG. I cannot read about the way the idea of the teenager was partially formed by marketers because MY BANGS ARE IN THE WAY OF EVERYTHING.

I NEED TO GET RID OF THESE BANGS

I NEED TO CUT MY BANGS MY BANGS NEED TO GO

I HAVE SCISSORS I CAN CUT MY BANGS THIS IS A GREAT IDEA I NEED TO DO THIS NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW THIS CANNOT WAIT OR MY ENTIRE LIFE'S HAPPINESS IS AT RISK

BANGS SCISSORS NOW NOW NOW

I WILL CUT MY BANGS DRY SO I CAN MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT TOO SHORT I WILL CUT THEM AT AN ANGLE I AM PRACTICALLY A STYLIST OR SOMETHING I AM NOT CRAZY

YAY BANGS GO AWAY NOW SNIP SNIP SNIP WOOHOO I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS

I AM SO COOL I AM THE COOLEST I JUST SAVED MY ENTIRE LIFE'S HAPPINESS LIFE IS GREAT I—"

And then, as I looked at the locks of hair in the trashcan, the ice-cold waters of sanity poured over my feverish mind, sending up instantaneous clouds of steam and regret and forcing me to ask myself, "What just happened in my brain?"

"No, seriously, what just happened? Why did I just do that? Why was this so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow, when I hopefully wouldn't be having a bad hair day and oh god this looks hideous my hair is completely ruined I am going to have to wear headbands and hats for the next three months WHAT DID I JUST DO TO MY HAIR WHY IS THERE NO CONTROL-Z FOR LIFE?????"

And then I had to stop hyperventilating and run off to class. Thankfully, it turned out that I actually hadn't done a bad job; wearing a headband for most of the day had just made my bangs lie funny, which made them look awful.

See, though? Not bad:



So luckily, my weird little hair-induced break from reality didn't have horrible consequences. (As I was telling one of my friends, I was actually thinking semi-logically, what with the, "Leave my hair dry so I don't underestimate how short I'm cutting it... Cut it at an angle, not straight." It's just that I was thinking semi-logically while on the mental equivalent of another planet.) I'm still not planning on cutting my own hair without a signed affidavit proving my sanity, but it turned out pretty well in the end.

My sister says that I'm not allowed to make any more spur of the moment decisions, though, or else I'm going to wake up one morning with a home-done tattoo. I feel like I should probably hide my needles and ink, just to be safe.